Industry Recon

Lockheed Martin will furnish the Army with additional aerostat platforms that provide around-the-clock surveillance and detection capabilities under a $133 million contract.

Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will supply the Army with eight more Persistent Threat Detection Systems (PTDS) to support U.S. and coalition forces deployed overseas, company officials said. Nine systems are already deployed, and the additional systems will be delivered to the military during the next 11 months, the officials said.

PTDS is an aerostat-based system outfitted with multimission sensors that furnish low-cost, long-endurance intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and communications capabilities. The helium-filled system outfitted with surveillance gear and equipment resembles a small airship tethered in place. Army units are able to reposition the system by using a mobile mooring system.

Special ops UAVs

A division of L-3 Communications will provide a long-range unmanned aerial system (UAS) to the Special Operations Command under a contract worth as much as $250 million in five years.

Under the contract, Geneva Aerospace will supply its Viking 400 unmanned aircraft systems to the command, company officials said. The announcement did not specify the number of systems to be provided.

In addition, Geneva Aerospace will provide training and engineering support for the command’s expeditionary UAS program, the officials said.

The Viking 400 is designed to fly for 10 hours to 12 hours and carry a 65-pound payload, according to the company’s Web site. It has a range of 50 kilometers to 75 kilometers.

Multiband tactical radio

Harris will furnish Falcon III AN/PRC-117G multiband, tactical manpack radios to the Army under a blanket purchase order potentially worth $419 million, company officials said.

An initial delivery order placed through the contract is worth $165 million. The order calls for Harris to supply manpack and vehicular radio systems and related support services.

The AN/PRC-117G manpack radio is about half the size of existing fielded multiband systems and offers users a frequency range of 30 MHz to 2 GHz. The radio can handle streaming video, imagery, biometrics, logistics and other data-intensive applications.

Through the High Assurance IP Equipment waveform, the radio can interface with the Defense Department’s Secure IP Router Network.

The AN/PRC-117G is approved for DOD’s Joint Tactical Radio System and also has National Security Agency Type-1 certification approval.

Raytheon’s EPLRS-XF radio is a software-programmable, wireless networking system designed to deliver high-speed, reliable tactical data communication when operating on wideband frequencies.

Shared Spectrum’s DSA software is intended to ensure that reliable communications are available to warfighters on the battlefield, where sufficient spectrum for communications can be difficult to access.

The EPLRS-XF radio outfitted with the DSA software is designed to deliver enhanced high-speed, mobile video and data capabilities for a variety of applications, company officials said.